Recognisation of archaeological qualifications and professional experience

Reported obstacle

A Slovak citizen cannot get an excavation permit in Hungary, nor a Hungarian citizen in Slovakia, even though they have the qualifications and professional experience, but they have acquired them in the other country.

Expert answer

The obstacle is not unique in the European Union. In our analysis of EU practice, we found a good example in the Republic of Ireland, which provides a specific procedure for the recognition of experience acquired in another country under a separate regulation. We referred to this example and contacted the Hungarian Excavation Committee, which discussed the problem raised at its meeting. Hungary accepts all diplomas obtained in the EU and the experience of archaeologists from abroad, so the Excavation Committee is therefore open to dialogue with the Slovak professional organisation, requesting the mediation of CESCI on the matter. On the Slovak side, CESCI Carpathia would like to achieve a similar openness on the part of Archeologická Rada.

In the initial phase of the #ACCESS project, which aims to identify obstacles, CESCI has, among other forums, collected and is collecting information on administrative and legal obstacles encountered by cross-border residents through a Helpdesk service.

The lack of information and insufficient information in the border region (made more difficult by bilingualism) is linked to the case of Slovak commuters who cannot apply for a Hungarian telephone number or SIM card from service providers because they do not have a Hungarian address. Our project investigated the extent to which the business policies of telephone companies are discriminatory in terms of European integration and the single market rules ensuring the free movement of services.

CESCI contacted both the telephone operators and the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, who were cooperative in identifying the problem.

The enquiries revealed that while it is true that subscriptions to mobile telephony services require the presentation of an identification document and an official proof of address, the situation is different when it comes to the application for a top-up SIM card. The internal rules of the service providers include a requirement for EU and EEA citizens to be in possession of a valid photo ID to buy a top-up SIM card.
In the cases investigated, this information was not passed on to the customer service staff, so that the regulated practice could not be enforced in the shops. The service providers did not find any errors or deficiencies during the investigation of the problem that would indicate a systemic problem, and all service providers concluded that the incident reported to them could have been the result of an individual error or a series of errors by the administrator.
In order to ensure that their practices are fully compliant, service providers have taken effective steps to enforce their rules in accordance with the legislation by sending information notes to their customer service staff, by including follow-up questions on the problem in their knowledge checks and by providing training in their knowledge update training programmes.

In addition to the measures taken by the service providers, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority has not taken initiated proceedings. In the framework of the #ACCESS project, CESCI is paying particular attention to improving the flow of information on economic and social developments in the border region.

Building partnership!

The project is financially supported by the European Union,
within the framework of the Interreg Hungary – Slovakia Programme.

For more information visit www.skhu.eu.

Building partnership!

The project is financially supported by the European Union,
within the framework of the Interreg Hungary – Slovakia Programme.

For more information visit www.skhu.eu.